THE PATRIOT KID
NOBODY ELSE CAN WORK
THE SCHEDULE FILE. WE'VE
GOT ELEVEN JOBS TODAY.
ANY MORE. THAT'S SOFTWARE.
IT JUST NEVER GOT TREATED
LIKE SOFTWARE.
✗ One person is the only one who can use it
✗ It's named schedule_FINAL_v7_USE THIS.xlsx
✗ Somebody retypes from it into another system
✗ A wrong cell costs you money, not just time
Somebody solved one problem in an afternoon.
Then a column. Then a tab. Then a formula
that referenced the tab. Six years later
it runs the place.
That isn't a mistake — it's how it always goes.
✓ Move it somewhere with version history
✓ Have Denise walk one other person through it
✓ Write down what each tab is for
✓ Lock the formula cells so a tap can't wipe one
TWO OF US CAN RUN IT. DO I
STILL NEED SOMETHING BUILT?
two people can run is fine.
Build something when the
retyping starts costing more
than the build would.
📊 Spreadsheets Are Good At This
This isn't an argument against spreadsheets. They are the best tool ever made for thinking on paper with numbers — working out a price, modelling a decision, keeping a list you'll throw away in a month.
What they were never designed for is being used by several people at once, keeping a history of who changed what, or refusing to accept a value that makes no sense. Every business that outgrows one outgrows it in exactly those three places.
The tell isn't the size of the file. It's whether being wrong costs money.
🔒 The Cheap Fixes First
Most workbooks don't need replacing. They need the four things nobody did when it was still just a list:
- Version history. OneDrive, SharePoint or Google Drive all keep every save. That alone turns "somebody broke it" from a disaster into a right-click.
- A second person who can drive it. An hour of somebody watching over a shoulder is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.
- Notes. One tab explaining what the other tabs are for. Write it as if you'd been hit by a bus, because that's the scenario.
- Protected cells. Lock the formulas so a fat finger on a phone can't delete the calculation everyone relies on.
That's an afternoon, and it removes most of the risk. Do it before deciding anything bigger.
🛠 When It's Genuinely Time to Build
There are four honest triggers, and none of them is "spreadsheets are unprofessional":
- Somebody retypes from it into another system, every day.
- Two people need it at the same time and one always loses.
- You need to know who changed what and when — a customer disputes something and you can't prove it.
- Your customers should be able to see part of it themselves.
Add up the retyping. Half an hour a day is three working weeks a year, every year, for one person. That number is usually what makes the decision, not the technology.
Got a workbook holding the place together? Show Chuck — he'll tell you honestly whether it needs replacing.
Got an IT problem worthy of a comic? Tell Chuck about it.